No taxpayer money in Moon,Kills pay out

Bye bye from Willy Moon and Natalia Kills. Picture / 3 News
Bye bye from Willy Moon and Natalia Kills. Picture / 3 News
No taxpayer funding went towards the final payout for controversial departing X Factor judges, as New Zealand On Air confirms the show will not be funded next year. NZ On Air paid Mediaworks $1.6 million for the series last year, and $800,000 for this year, but confirmed yesterday it would not be funding the show next year.

This year's series featured husband and wife judges Natalia Kills and Willy Moon, who were removed from the show this week after humiliating Invercargill-based contestant Joe Irvine.

Asked if the pair received a taxpayer-funded payout, spokeswoman Allanah Kalafatelis replied ''It is an unbudgeted-for expenditure and it will be the cost of Mediaworks and the programme maker ... it is not in our budget and we won't be paying for it''.

The latest scandal follows controversy when it was later revealed contestant Shae Brider had spent six years in prison for his role in the killing of a teen in 2004. That sparked questions for NZ On Air during the annual review of the Broadcasting Commission last month.

Dunedin South MP Clare Curran asked chairwoman Miriam Dean ''is there alarm bells in any way going off for NZ On Air, as the taxpaying funding body, and around the choices that these programmes are making?''''Absolutely not,'' the NZ On Air chairwoman replied.

She later added: ''Indeed, our statute prevents us from having any control, interference, involvement in editorial content.

''It's for the judges to choose who goes to boot camp, not NZ On Air.''

Yesterday, when the Otago Daily Times asked the funding agency whether it stood by those comments, a spokeswoman replied ''Yes''.

''NZ On Air is still happy it is delivering on its objective as an entertainment show that is exposing New Zealand talent to audiences.''

Ms Curran, who is Labour's broadcasting spokeswoman, said she was ''batted off'' during that select committee, yet was surprised the funding agency issued a statement about the judges.

''There is a question mark there,'' she said.

That statement ''We have advised TV3 we are disappointed that the focus has been taken off the music'', was released on Monday night.

''We do not condone bullying. We're not allowed editorial input into any funded programme, but viewers can complain to Mediaworks,'' the statement said.hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz

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